Genius Playground

It had to be said.

Although this old photograph offered limited clues, it was a huge morale booster.

Although Qin Feng and Old Qi had both come to the same conclusion—that a cobbled-together, "accidental" product like the Positron Cannon couldn’t be fixed once taken apart, and that even the original creator couldn’t build an identical one—

...Jiang Ran felt that this view was too absolute.

’What if the original creator was actually a once-in-a-generation genius?’

In this world, if someone could crack Goldbach’s Conjecture at twenty, then why couldn’t the trio of senior students, also around twenty, be the bona fide geniuses who developed the Positron Cannon?

"East Sea University is truly full of hidden talents. It’s incredible."

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but marvel at his alma mater’s profound legacy.

Very good.

With this old photograph, there was now another glimmer of hope on the path to saving Cheng Mengxue.

The Positron Cannon and the Time Travel Machine—they could be pursued simultaneously!

"It’s just a shame that I can’t find any information about the 2005 Film Club."

Chi Xiaoguo walked over.

"It was too long ago. Plus, my friend who’s doing a work-study program at the alumni office said they’ve lost contact with many of the alumni who graduated back then. Their phone numbers are all invalid."

"She said that if we could provide a name, or even just a major, she could try to look them up. But the three people in the photo... we don’t know anything about them. We can’t even see their faces clearly because the photo is so overexposed."

Jiang Ran nodded.

"It’s okay. Finding this photo is already a huge breakthrough."

"If it comes down to it, we’ll just call every single alumnus from the class of 2005. We can use brute force, asking every one of them if they knew anyone from the Film Club back then, or the rocker with the long hair."

"I think the long-haired rocker might be more memorable than the Film Club from that time, of course... assuming he really was in a rock band."

Back in 2005.

If someone was really doing campus rock and frequently performed on the sports field or somewhere, they’d definitely be a campus celebrity. People would still remember them even twenty years after graduation.

"This is really great."

Jiang Ran was very grateful to Chi Xiaoguo.

"Thank you for being so dedicated. This photo is a huge find."

"Hehe, I’m just glad I could help!"

Chi Xiaoguo scratched her head, a little embarrassed by the praise.

This was the first time since she’d met Jiang Ran that she had truly been able to help him. She was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

"Well, since the other old files aren’t useful, I should return them."

She pointed at the messy archive boxes on the table and said softly,

"Actually, these aren’t supposed to be checked out, but I have another roommate who does a work-study in the archives..."

"I get it, I get it."

Jiang Ran nodded with tacit understanding.

Anyone who’d been to college would understand.

"Then let me help you carry them back. This stuff is heavy."

Yesterday, Chi Xiaoguo had hauled all this stuff over. Seeing her petite frame struggle, Jiang Ran had felt a pang of sympathy. He decided to accompany her this time as she returned them.

After a quick cleanup, the two of them set off, each carrying a portion of the archive boxes.

Passing by the cafeteria, they noticed a full-page flyer pasted on the notice board, with a crowd of people gathered around it, chattering away.

"What’s that?"

Both Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo were curious and walked over.

Chi Xiaoguo was blocked by the crowd in front. She jumped up and down, but couldn’t get very high because of the archive boxes in her arms. She was starting to sweat with frustration.

"Senior! Senior! What are they all looking at?!"

Jiang Ran was tall, so he could see clearly. He read the large characters on the promotional poster out loud:

"The ’Qiu Tongcheng College Student Mathematics Competition.’ Qiu Tongcheng... that name sounds so familiar."

Instantly!

He remembered!

"Academician Qiu!"

Because Jiang Ran had little interest and no talent for math competitions growing up, he had never paid them any attention. However, he had heard of the great Academician Qiu Tongcheng; it just hadn’t clicked a moment ago.

Qiu Tongcheng was a world-renowned ethnic Chinese mathematician, a dual academician of both the Dragon Country and the US, and the dean of various top academic institutions.

As early as 1982, Qiu Tongcheng had won the Fields Medal, the highest award in international mathematics. He went on to win countless awards and had long been famous; his status in the mathematical world needed no further explanation.

Since it wasn’t his field, this was honestly the first time Jiang Ran had heard of the college student math competition named after Qiu Tongcheng.

So, he temporarily ignored Chi Xiaoguo’s bouncing curiosity and focused on reading the flyer.

’So that’s how it is...’

The Qiu Tongcheng College Student Mathematics Competition was initiated by the Qiu Tongcheng Mathematical Sciences Center at Qinghua University, and was a math competition specifically for students of higher education institutions in the Dragon Country.

The competition focused on comprehensively testing students’ knowledge in five areas—Algebra, Number Theory & Combinatorics; Probability & Statistics; Applied & Computational Mathematics; Analysis & Partial Differential Equations; and Mathematical Physics. It aimed to select outstanding mathematical talent according to the standards of graduate qualification exams at top foreign universities.

From the flyer’s introduction, Jiang Ran learned that the competition was extremely difficult, but the rewards were also extremely high.

These rewards weren’t monetary, but rather in the form of [educational resources].

The poster wasn’t very detailed, only stating simply—

[Winners of the Qiu Tongcheng Award can get an opportunity for direct admission into a Ph.D. program at Qinghua, or a recommendation letter to a world-class university.]

’That’s insane!’

Jiang Ran hadn’t expected this kind of reward.

But considering Academician Qiu Tongcheng’s status, it wasn’t hard to understand.

Direct admission to Qinghua’s Ph.D. program would naturally mean studying at Academician Qiu’s research institute, which made sense. As for recommendation letters to other top universities at home and abroad, with Academician Qiu’s endorsement, they were practically guaranteed.

In the end, anyone who could stand out among so many mathematical geniuses and win the final "Qiu Tongcheng Award" was bound to be the cream of the crop, a true prodigy.

Sending such a genius to a top-tier institution that matched their abilities—wasn’t that the true purpose of education?

So, looking at it this way, this college student math competition had a very positive significance.

"Ah, I finally squeezed through."

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Chi Xiaoguo used her petite frame to drill her way through to the front of the crowd.

Then she looked up.

"Oh~ so it’s this."

Jiang Ran looked down.

"You know about this?"

"Mhm."

Chi Xiaoguo nodded.

"I went to a lecture given by some senior students. Last year, our East Sea University team won first place in two categories. They were amazing."

"Our math department at East Sea University is really strong. Senior, look, on the results board to the right, East Sea University is almost always among the top ranks in the Qiu Tongcheng College Student Mathematics Competition every year, in both individual and team events."

Jiang Ran moved a little to the right to look at the honor roll on the flyer.

Sure enough.

East Sea University’s name appeared in the top five of various categories in almost every competition. Although Qinghua University won the most awards, East Sea University’s ability to consistently place in the top five showed its strength was not to be underestimated.

There was another line at the very bottom.

It said that to date, more than half of the award-winning students had gone on to further their studies at world-renowned universities such as Qinghua, Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jiang Ran understood.

"So, the main purpose of this Qiu Tongcheng Mathematics Competition is to give students who didn’t have the means, ability, or even the luck to get into a top university a second chance to showcase their talent and prove themselves."

"That’s right."

Chi Xiaoguo tilted her head up proudly.

"I still remember, at that lecture, the senior who was speaking repeated Academician Qiu Tongcheng’s words."

"Mr. Qiu Tongcheng’s original intention for creating this college student math competition was to provide a fair opportunity for students who couldn’t get into the Dragon Country’s top universities."

"[Academician Qiu said this is very important. Because a high school student might fail to get into a top university for many reasons, such as bad luck, poor health, poverty, or immaturity. But these circumstances can change, and they should be given a chance.]"

"Academician Qiu himself had similar experiences during his own academic career. He also faced many difficulties that prevented him from entering a first-rate university, and he only gained recognition later through arduous effort and struggle."

"That’s why he used his own resources to hold this competition in the Dragon Country, opening the doors to students from all institutions of higher learning. Whether they’re from key universities, first-tier, second-tier, third-tier, or vocational colleges... anyone can sign up."

"The top ten in the final overall score receive the highest honor, the [Qiu Tongcheng Award]. As long as you win this award, you can basically get Academician Qiu’s recommendation and go directly to a top university... regardless of your previous educational background."

...

Jiang Ran listened silently to Chi Xiaoguo’s explanation.

This was probably what they meant by "casting a wide net for talent."

Especially for students who were math prodigies but weak in other subjects, the Dragon Country’s current educational selection system made it very difficult for them to enter top institutions based on their math scores alone.

But Academician Qiu’s competition gave them a second chance in life.

’So then.’

’For my current predicament...’

’Could this be...’

’...an opportunity for me to upgrade my credentials, for a carp to leap over the dragon gate?’

...

「Night fell. Back in the dorm at East Sea College of International Trade and Economics.」

Jiang Ran took out his phone and started searching for information on the "Qiu Tongcheng College Student Mathematics Competition."

Since the competition was launched in 2010, many mathematical geniuses had indeed been able to obtain educational resources that matched their talents.

However, looking at the list of winners, the vast majority were students from what were already top institutions like Qingbei, Longke University, Nankai, East Sea University, and Xiamen University.

Other "Project 985" universities would also occasionally have a winner pop up, who would then immediately get a recommendation from Academician Qiu himself and transfer to Qinghua or another top domestic university to continue their studies.

As for the winners who were already from top universities, many would choose to continue their advancement at world-class institutions like Harvard or MIT.

In short, Academician Qiu’s recommendation letter was an all-access pass to any prestigious university.

But there was a condition.

You had to win the top-tier [Qiu Tongcheng Award].

For individual contestants, the competition had a total of five subjects, just as he’d seen during the day: Algebra, Number Theory, and Combinatorics; Probability and Statistics; Applied and Computational Mathematics; Analysis and Partial Differential Equations; and Mathematical Physics.

Each contestant could participate in up to five subjects, with the scores of their best three subjects being added together. A gold medal was worth five points, a silver medal three points, and a bronze medal two points.

In the end, the two with the highest scores would win a Gold Prize, the next three a Silver Prize, and the five after that a Bronze Prize. All of them were considered winners of the Qiu Tongcheng Award.

In other words.

Only by overcoming all obstacles, battling their way out from a crowd of geniuses, and achieving top ranks in multiple subjects could one enter the top ten in the final standings and win the Qiu Tongcheng Award.

"Too hard, way too hard."

Jiang Ran tossed his phone aside.

"Impossible, impossible."

He was quite self-aware; he knew his own limits.

If it were just one subject, he might have dared to give it a shot, to gamble on his latent math talent.

But needing to get high scores in at least three out of five subjects to win the final Qiu Tongcheng Award based on total points—what kind of cosmic-level difficulty was that?!

"Forget it, I’m going to sleep."

He rolled over.

He knew very well that the Qiu Tongcheng College Student Mathematics Competition was a stage for true geniuses...

...not his world.

BEEP.

In the dim dorm room, a roommate’s digital clock let out a soft sound.

It was the hourly chime for midnight, 00:00.

It represented the end of the old day and the beginning of a new one.

DING-DONG!

At almost the same time, Jiang Ran’s phone chimed with a WeChat notification, and the screen lit up.

He rolled over again.

Squinting, he picked up his phone.

And saw...

...it was a WeChat message from Nan Xiuxiu:

"It’s June 1st~ Free at last, free at last~"

DING-DONG!

Another WeChat message. It was a cute sticker of a little rabbit waving, with a line of text below it:

[Jiang Ran, Happy Children’s Day!]